It is
claimed that Mr Derrance Redford Stevenson was killed on the night of Monday June
4th 1979. A concerned friend had visited his home at 189 Greenhill
Rd, Parkside after Mr Stevenson failed to appear at an important trail at the
courthouse on Tuesday morning. Police searched the building, fearing Mr
Stevenson had been robbed for the large amounts of cash his friends claimed he
kept on the premises, it was during this time the freezer was found glued shut,
and once opened, Mr Stevenson’s body found.Mr Stevenson, was last seen alive about
4.25pm on June 4 by his relieving secretary, Mrs Flaherty.

The coroner arrived at 6pm Tuesday night
to begin examinations of Mr Stevenson’s body, which had spent the night in a
sealed freezer. He estimated the time of death, which corresponded to a time
that Mr Szach’s would have been present in the home (more about this next
week), further pointing the finger towards Mr Szach’s.

Szach had allegedly cancelled a bus ticket to Coober Pedy on Monday the 4th.
He often went to the town to mine opal. It is claimed that Szach’s took Mr
Stevenson’s distinct red 240z Datsun, and drove to his parents’ house, then
drove it to Coober Pedy. What is significant about this, is that it is claimed
that Stevenson was very particular about who drove his car and where it went.
It is claimed he would never have let his 19-year-old lover drive the car.To further implicate Szach’s a witness
claimed he saw a man leaving Stevenson’s home after 11pm carrying a green
garbage bag and an attaché case. The attaché case (or one very similar to it)
was found inside Stevenson’s red Datsun in Coober Pedy…

David Szach’s
pleaded not guilty in court, but was sentenced (via jury) to life in jail. He
appealed and was re-tried in 1980, only to lose again.
Szach’s refused to apply for parole, as he believed he was innocent, and
applying for parole against his sentence, would give recognition that he had
committed the crime.South Australian laws were changed to
enable the Chair of the Parole Board to apply for a non-parole period on the
behalf of a prisoner because of the Szach’s stance.

Szach’s
was released in 1994

So, did
David Szach’s kill his older lover? Dr Bob Moles of the Miscarriages of Justice
Project at Flinders’ University doesn’t believe so, and has campaigned against
the conviction of Mr Szach’s and Governments further refusal to allows Szach’s
to appeal against his conviction.

Dr Moles
publicly stated that Szach’s couldn’t have killed Stevenson in an interview
with ABC
news reporters, Damien Carrick and Jeremy Story Carter, where he stated;

"You'd have to attribute to David
Szach a number of skills,"

"He'd have the skills of a hired
assassin. He'd have to have the skills of a highly skilled rally driver. He'd
have to have the skills of a person who could impersonate somebody else and
he'd also have to have a great capacity to come across as innocent and naïve
when he's been questioned by the police."

There is further evidence either overlooked or “pushed aside” by
prosecutors. On the night of Stevenson’s death, two cars were seen sitting in
the driveway at his house. One for the green and white ford belonging to Gino
Gambardella, and the other unknown (with the witness suggesting it could be the
red Datsun that belonged to Stevenson). These cars were witnessed at about 11pm
on the night of the murder.

A taxi also picked up a young man, wearing a suit, who was carrying a garbage
bag and an attaché case, and drove him into the City. The young man, when he
exited the taxi, forget his belongings, and was called back by the taxi driver
to take them with him.
The taxi driver described the young man as being around 19 years old with blond
shoulder length hair, wearing glasses and of a sallow complexion. He (The taxi
driver) did not believe this man to be Szach’s.

A mysterious young man who showed up on the steps of the South Australian
Legal Aid Commission the morning after Stevenson’s murder wanting to report a
crime. When asked by a legal secretary if he had seen a lawyer, the man
replied: "Only Derrance Stevenson,
but when I left him last night he was in no condition to act for anyone."

David Szach - circa 2012 - source ABC News

This young man was never heard of
again, and no-one tried to follow up on his request. Who was he? Was he the
young man in the suit?

Szach’s also claimed that Stevenson’s had been receiving threatening phone calls, and after one phone call, had told him to take the Datsun and leave town for a while. Szach’s followed his partner’s advice, spending a day with his mother, and returning home that night, to find Stevenson not home, so he took the car and drove overnight to Coober Pedy. Szach’s never once deterred from this story.

At the time of the trial, it was illegal to be homosexual in Adelaide. The prosecution sensationalised the case in the media by focussing as much attention on the two men’s sex lives as they could, taking the spotlight away from facts, witness testimony and other unanswered questions about the case at the time.
There are many intriguing unanswered questions with this case, including a
scandal around the then Coroner. There is also the question of who is Gino
Gambardella and what was he doing at Stevenson’s house on the night of the
murder?

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photo's used here on this site are sourced from The Sate Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

All photos remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are displayed here for the purpose of education, research and review under the copyright act "fair usage" clause.

Some photo's used on this website are sourced from The Sate Library of South Australia, and The National Library of Australia and http://www.gawler.nowandthen.net.au - all photos are out of copyright and have no usage restrictions implied.

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PANDORA

On the 7-1-2013, The Haunts of Adelaide was added to The National Library of Australia's "Pandora" archive.http://pandora.nla.gov.au/